Spiritual Reality Or Obsession

Noted Chinese pastor/writer Watchman Nee presents his insights on the nature of spiritual reality in the interest of helping believers discriminate between mere appearance and the real.

The Christian life seemingly involves many outward matters and things, such as baptism, the breaking of bread, worship, praise, prayer, forgiveness, humility, and love for one another. As such, it is easy to focus on these things but miss the spiritual reality behind them. This reality is the Holy Spirit. Apart from the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of reality, all of these things, no matter how faithfully practiced, are merely outward conduct that is devoid of any real inward spiritual content.

Tirabassi speaks of the things that drive and control one's life, how to overcome the obsessive passions that distract one from God, and how to replace them with holy obsession.

This is a well-researched, easy-to-read personal glimpse into the soul of one of the world's great teachers.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4.6). So mourned the prophet Hosea. The glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that “all shall know [God], from the least to the greatest of them” (Heb. 8.11). Spiritual knowledge is open to all God’s children today. It is therefore not only our duty but also our privilege to seek this knowledge. In the present volume, brother Watchman Nee attempts to help us to develop this spiritual knowledge. He points out the difference between mental knowledge and spiritual knowledge, shows the ways to the true knowledge of God as well as of ourselves, and explains the relationship between spiritual knowledge and the renewed mind.

God’s desire is to commune with man. God being spirit, the man who worships Him must worship in spirit and truth. It is therefore essential for man to be spiritual. This is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. Salvation is the way to spirituality. The original three volume set of The Spiritual Man by Watchman Nee serves as a guide, not as a manual, to walk in spiritual life as well as to fight the spiritual warfare. It was written under tremendous spiritual conflict. Only through the grace of God and the victory of Christ was Watchman Nee able to finish the writing. Now having become a Christian classic, it may be considered as Watchman Nee’s legacy to the Church. Condensed in this new volume, there are 42 lessons to be learned in journeying towards the spiritual. May we be guided by the Spirit of God to heartily learn these necessary lessons all to the glory of God.

In the Holy Scriptures spiritual life is often pictured as a spiritual journey. In reviewing Watchman Nee's life we can easily notice four distinct stages in his spiritual journey. The first stage covers the years from 1920 to 1928: from his regeneration to his basic spiritual training. The second stage comprises the years from 1928 to 1942: the period from the expansion of the work to his withdrawal from ministry. The third stage encompasses the years from 1942 to 1952: that is, from brother Nee's withdrawal from ministry to his captivity by the Chinese Communists. The final stage covers the years from 1952 to 1972: from his arrest and imprisonment to his death. All four stages are clearly reflected in either brother Nee's writings or his spoken ministry.

Surely this is the hour when the battleground is in the soul. While the Lord is seeking to work through the quickened spirit. Satan is seeking to work throught the natural, soulish life which has not been brought under control of the spriit.